Sasikiran loses to Kamsky, still leads by half point

Sofia, May 19 (UNI) After two successive wins under his belt, Indian Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran lost his eighth round game to revenge-seeking Gata Kamsky but still managed to hang on to a slender half point lead over the chasing pack at the Mtel Masters here.

The second highest ranked Indian after Anand, Sasikiran suddenly became the most sought after player, surprising everyone by leading the Mtel Super Grandmasters tournament after winning the sixth and seventh round games of the tournament.

In the eighth round, Sasikiran tried hard to equalize the game but Kamsky was bent upon avenging his third round game defeat.

Playing with white pieces, the Indian prodigy opened with d4 and his opponent replied with d5. After the initial moves, the game was played on the Queen's Gambit declined Slav variation.

Kamsky once again preferred his favourite Slav Defence but Sasikiran played solidly. Very early in the game, Kamsky played a novelty and went on to achieve a nice exchange of white squared Bishops and in the process, took control of the game.

Sasikiran structured his pieces solidly and refused to take any risk, preferring to have smooth continuation. With his systematic play, Sasikiran could get a small positional advantage.

But due to time constraints, he not only lost his advantage but had to sacrifice an exchange. In the end, Kamsky prevailed over his opponent and avenged his defeat by winning the game.

''In my opinion it was a very fine game. Both of us made mistakes during the game. After the exchange sacrifice, I think I had enough compensation and it should have been good enough for a draw,'' Sasikiran told UNI after his loss.

Despite this loss, Sasikiran with 4.5 points is still ahead of his four nearest rivals.

In the other matches, defending champion Veselin Topalov drew against world junior champion Shakriyar Mamedyarov in a very complicated game while Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu forced the Englishman Michael Adams to surrender at the 45th move.

Sasikiran plays his ninth and penultimate round game against Romanian Grandmaster Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu.

Standing after Round 8 : 1. Krishnan Sasikiran (4.5 points) 2. S.Mamedyarov, Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu, Veselin Topalov and Gata Kamsky (4 points each) 6. Michael Adams (3.5 points) 9th Round pairing : 1. Krishnan Sasikiran Vs Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu 2. Gata Kamsky vs Veselin Topalov 3. S.Mamedyarov vs Michael Adams UNI